Indigofera australis SEEDS Native Indigo SEEDS Indigofera pseudotinctoria

LATIN NAME: INDIGOFERA AUSTRALIS

COMMON NAME: Native Indigo, Austral Indigo, Indigofera pseudotinctoria

The native indigo is one of the most graceful of the flowering shrubs of the warm regions, and its spikes of the purple-pink flowers and its value as a source of the blue dye have made it a favourite of the gardens and the dye works across the warm world. It grows as an upright, spreading, deciduous shrub of the pea family, reaching up to three metres or more, with many slender, branching stems bearing alternate, pinnate, grey-green leaves with the many small, oval leaflets and, in the warm season, long, upright spikes of the small, purple-pink, pea-like flowers, followed by the small, curved, brown seed pods. It is a species of the flowering shrub, native to the warm regions of Australia and the East, while it has been cultivated for its flowers and its dye for a very long time, and it is known as the native indigo or the austral indigo.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The native indigo has a real and distinguished place in research. It has been studied in the chemistry and the dye science, since the indigoferas are known as sources of the indigo blue dye, and the researchers have examined the leaves, their indigo precursors and their composition, while the study of the natural indigo dyes has drawn attention in the international chemical and historical press, and the plant is best appreciated as a subject of study and a dye plant rather than a casual remedy. The plant has also been studied in the horticulture and the ornamental-plant science, since the native indigo is one of the most graceful of the flowering shrubs for the warm garden, and the researchers have examined its cultivation, its flowering and its value in the landscape, while the spikes of the purple-pink flowers have drawn attention in the international horticultural press. The species has also been studied in botany, since it is a member of the pea family and a relative of the other indigoferas and the acacias, and its relationships and its distribution have been examined, while the pinnate, grey-green leaves and the purple-pink flowers of the native indigo have been of interest to the botanists and the gardeners. For a shrub of such grace, the native indigo has a rich and distinguished record of research.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

To grow the Native Indigo from seed, the native indigo is a graceful shrub of the open woodlands and the grassy slopes of the warm regions, bearing spikes of the purple-pink flowers through the warm season. Its flowers feed the bees and the butterflies, and its nitrogen-fixing roots enrich the poor soil, while its spreading, leafy growth gives a fine cover and a shelter to the small creatures. Its economic value is real: the native indigo is prized as a flowering shrub for the warm garden and as a source of the natural indigo dye, and its value has drawn attention in the international horticultural and craft press, while the graceful habit and the long flowering season have made it a favourite of the gardens and the dye works. To raise the native indigo, sow the seeds in pots of moist, open compost in a warm, bright place, keep them gently watered, and grow the little shrubs on in the sun.

sow the seeds in pots of moist, open compost in a warm, bright place, keep the young indigo gently watered, and grow the little shrubs on in the sun.

Indigo is a shrub growing 1-2m high, flowering during summer and is pollinated by Insects. Indigofera tinctoria is a frost tender plant of the sub-tropics, and it may be an annual, biennial, or perennial, depending on the climate in which it is grown. It has light green pinnate leaves and sheafs of pink or violet flowers.

A member of the legume family, Fabaceae, the third largest family of flowering plants, Indigofera tinctoria can biologically fix nitrogen, annually enriching the soil.

The dye made from this Saturn plant is produced by fermentation and has been used in Asia for over 5000 years. At the beginning of the 17th century, it replaced woad in Western Europe as the blue dye of choice because of its greater strength. Despite its rather complicated preparation, indigo is one of the few blue dyes from nature, it does not fade, it dyes in cold water, and it requires no mordant.

It also plays a role in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where the herb's bitterness is applied to stop bleeding and as an antiseptic. Indigo red, a brown aspect of the dye, has been shown to be effective against leukaemia.